


My Buddy Balphie

by TheTentacleCommander



Series: The Devil's Saga series extras [6]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Memories, Creepy, Daycare, Gen, Imaginary Friends, Old work, One Shot, Origin Story, Overprotective, Parent-Child Relationship, Side Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 10:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13234152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTentacleCommander/pseuds/TheTentacleCommander
Summary: Sia's memory of her imaginary fox friend, Balphie.





	My Buddy Balphie

**My Buddy Balphie**  
  
  
(Sia, Aged 4)  
  
"Momma I wanna watch it again!"  
  
"Girly you've watched that DVD almost 5 times today, don't the poor foxes deserve a break?"  
  
"But Momma I wanna be able to play wit' my friend!"  
  
The woman had endured almost a full day of listening to the animated adventures of Robin Hood; the cartoon fox and his companions had succeeded in taking down Prince John for the nth time today and yet the child was already excited for another viewing.  
  
"But can't you and your friend play without watching the movie?" As much as she prided herself in the $2 thrift store find, Jill was beginning to hate that sly fox. Sia's face had a small yet cute pout crossing it; the 4-year-old knowing how to convince her mother of anything.  
  
"Bu-but Balphie lives in there!"  
  
_Ah, Balphie_. The imaginary friend that the little girl claimed lived inside the movie. They had both watched the same thing, but amongst all the anthropomorphic versions of Robin and crew, Jill did not recall any wizards in the original story nor this cartoon. As much as the movie's music and dialogue were already permanently lodged in her head, she let the movie play again to the child's delight.  
  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
  
  
A week later the two had gone out to catch some fresh air, wandering the small strip mall Jill had driven them both to. Staying cooped up in a house was never healthy, and she figured the child should start interacting with people outside of just herself and her immediate family. She tried to get Sia to play with the kids at the playground but it seemed the child just couldn't be bothered.   
  
But that was okay, Jill had signed her up for an early start daycare – hopefully, in a contained and controlled school setting she'll learn new things and maybe make some friends. Staying cooped up under her wing wouldn't do her well-  
  
"Momma! Look!"  
  
Jill was broken from her musing by the child's insistent tugging on her hand. "Sia, you don't have to pull on me, what do you see?"  
  
"Balphie!! He came out of the movie Momma! Momma, I can't leave him here we have to rescue him from the jail!" Jill leaned down to see what she was looking at; in the storefront window of a small toy store held a display of stuffed animals in various outfits. Sitting in the middle was a stuffed fox doll, eyes beaming with a stitched on smile. It was dressed in heavy robes of black and red and had a plush staff stitched into its left paw.   
  
It looked nothing like the characters in the Disney film, but Sia was now dragging her heals determined to save her wizard 'friend'. As much as Jill discouraged such behavior the pleading look in the girl's eyes again broke her resolve. "Alright, girly. This time I'll cave." The little girl squealed as both walked in to rescue Balphie from the glass storefront window.  
  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
  
  
It had been several weeks into Sia's stay at the local daycare. Waterfall Daycare was a great find: it wasn't too far from home, the staff seemed to be competent and friendly, and many kids went there. It was admittedly peaceful, not having to watch the child every minute of the day and Sia seemed to get on well from what she could tell. So when Jill received the stern phone call today she was very much taken aback.  
  
Sia had looked to be the picture of perfect behavior when she dropped her off.  _What did she do_?  
  
  
........................................  
  
  
"Now Sia. Do you know why we have you sitting in time out?"   
  
"…Because you didn't like me an' Balphie playin'?"  
  
"No. Though that doll…can you put it away please?"  
  
"But, Balphie doesn't like being alone."  
  
"Sia, we'd rather talk with just you right now. Can Balphie be taken at least outside? We'll make sure he doesn't get lost." The daycare teacher tried to hide her nose behind her hand; the doll now looking quite filthy with various stains. The smell though…it wasn't so bad at first but the last couple of days made sitting near the child unbearable.   
  
"Me an' him go everywhere togetha'! If I leave him alone he'll get mad."  
  
The woman then tried a different approach, her eyes watering. "Well, may I see your fo- err Balphie? It seems he has gotten into something unpleasant, dear."  
  
"….you'll just take him away. Momma took him away once and he neva' forgave me. I told Balphie she was jus' cleanin' him." The little girl leans in closer, whispering in the woman's ear, "Balphie doesn't wan' me to say, but he secretly doesn't like baths."  
  
The woman tilted her head upwards in both a sigh and to alleviate the smell flooding her nose.  _How can neither mother nor child smell this?_  "But he really stinks dear-"  
  
" **No! He doesn't wanna!** " Sia said this in a snarl, the sharp tone causing the woman to shift uncomfortably. She could've sworn for a moment that Sia's face had almost a pointed glare, her eyes looking a shade lighter than normal. But before she could ponder the sudden outburst the child had started to ramble as if the outburst never happened.  
  
"Balphie an' me would go on awesome adventures! He shows me fun places an' stuff to do."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah! We'd go searching for unicorns and help people."  
  
She realized that getting rid of the offending item wasn't going to happen; so instead decided to play along with the little girl if only to momentarily forget the horrid smell. "Well, what do you rescue the people from? Dragons? Evil monsters?"   
  
Sia looked at the woman blankly, then blurted out: "Oh! What me an' him do? We rescue them from bad people. So many bad people live where he's from. People do bad things like this one guy was a thief. But then he'd lose the stuff he stole because he forgot where they were! But there's cool stuff there too like talking swords and a lady that-"  
  
"Sia." The woman started to rub the sides of her temples not expecting all that. "Okay, so I see you and your fox friend have lots of fun. Why not share that with the other kids here?" She like most of the staff worried about this one. The kids steered clear of her, but many staffers thought it was due to the smell of her fox 'friend'.  
  
"Play? With  _them_? Naw they're mean to Balphie. They talk about him behind his back. They say he stares at them funny, and then when he just nips at them they freak out. Not my fault they don't wanna play wit' us."  
  
"See this is why we are in here. Some of them are telling me you; well the both of you, make them feel uncomfortable. Why is that?" More like ALL of them. None of the children, when paired up with Sia for activities, dared to go near the child.   
  
_What is she doing to cause such behavior from every single child here?_  
  
"I dunno Ma'm. I jus' play with Balphie. Sometimes we eat together. He gets so hungry after an adventure."  
  
"I- He eats?"  
  
"Yeah, sometimes I feed him from the lunch table. He's always so hungry! He likes eating anything that's in red."  
  
"Why red?"  
  
"Cause it's our fav'rite color! Things always look better in red. Though red makes him very hungry."  
  
"Would he like an apple? I have a few on my desk." The woman wanted any reason to turn her head from that doll … _that smell_. She felt like she was going to lose her lunch. "No Ma'm, he likes only red things."  
  
"But an apple IS red-"  
  
"No, he likes things IN red, silly. Things always look better in red." That unnerving glare again crossed her eyes. The worker wanted now to leave but not because of the pungent odor. The child added, "Especially when they are colored over-"  
  
"Eh, Sia…where's his tail. Don't foxes have one?" She hoped changing the subject would calm her nerves. Never in all her years of working with children has she felt such a rising dread from a child, especially one as young as this.    
  
The four-year-old chirped on. "His tail? Balphie lost it somewhere. He doesn't miss it though."  
  
As she smiled at the increasingly pale woman, an irate Jill Valentine stormed in, along with the head teacher of the Daycare.  
  
Immediately both held their noses. "What is that smell?" the headteacher questioned.   
  
"That doll. It smells something fierce," came from the other staff member, her face now a green shade. She rushed out of the room slamming the door behind her. The sound of the bathroom door opening and closing was heard from the outside hall.  
  
"So you called me in over a dirty toy? Couldn't you just have taken it away?" Jill was seriously annoyed.  _They demanded her to cancel her day to rush over and talk about dealing with that raggedy doll?_  
  
"No. We called due to your child being aggressive around the others. Her antisocial behavior has become too much for- Good God what was that thing bathed in?!"  
  
"Sia hun, lemme see Balphie." Jill opened her hands, motioning for Sia to pass the foul-smelling fox plush over.  
  
"Momma…"  
  
"He stinks dear. Let me see him."  
  
As much as the girl wanted to protest, she grudgingly gave him to Jill. Jill could only turn the doll in her hands, the smell overwhelming. She shifted the dirty thing, it feeling heavier than she recalled. As the doll was moved around a small tearing sound was heard before the smell amplified itself tenfold filling the room.   
  
She peeked in the hole before tossing the thing down in disgust. The hole widened allowing the hand-sized, bloated corpse of a rat fall out from the doll's insides. It was covered in dried blood, the thing being ripped open at the throat.  
  
"What the hell?  _A rat?_ " The head teacher was too shocked at first, the dead thing discolored and looking aside from the dried flakes of blood still intact.   
  
"I didn't know you people catered to rats too." Jill snapped, very much disgusted by her discovery.  
  
"What? Lady, there is no way that came from us. Your child had to have shoved that in there. Between this and her biting at the other children-"  
  
"Don't you dare pin this on my child. Children don't just stuff dead things in their dolls. And I've seen none of that behavior you claim from her – this is the first time I even heard of Sia doing anything remotely aggressive."  
  
"All the kids here can't be hallucinating!"  
  
"No, but I bet you are exaggerating the situation; not a single parent has come up to me about any bullying or whatever nonsense you have on my child. That and with rats roaming around here, I'm less inclined to believe a thing from you. Sia, we're leaving."  
  
"Ms. Valentine!?"  
  
"I'm also not paying the remainder of my contract here. I didn't pay to have rodents run around my child!" The angered woman drags Sia out, tossing the doll in the trash. Sia starts to cry but otherwise says nothing.  
  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
  
Over the next few days, Jill had Sia transferred to another daycare the fiasco garnering the Waterfall Daycare bad press for their rat infestation. Sia had aside from Jill took to barely talking with people at all, the loss of her friend traumatizing. She no longer wished to watch her Robin Hood movie, asking her mother to never play it again.   
  
Balphie was gone – all over feeding him a fresh lunch.

**Author's Note:**

> Was originally a gift fic for a friend; references their OC.
> 
> Posted on dA in 2010.


End file.
